US GDP for the second quarter revised upward to 2.5%

29 August 2013 16:29[Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--The ?xml:namespace>US economy grew at a faster pace in the second quarter than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, with exports revised upward and imports revised downward.

US GDP increased at a 2.5% annual rate in the second quarter, up from the department’s estimate released in July of 1.7%. GDP in the first quarter of 2013 was at a 1.1% rate.

The jump in the GDP estimate was based on more positive numbers in personal consumption expenditures, exports, private inventory investment, as well as residential and nonresidential fixed investments, the department said.

However, cuts in federal spending and imports were a drag on GDP, the department said.

The gross domestic purchases price index, which measures prices paid by US residents, increased 0.3% in the second quarter, a rate that was unchanged in the department’s second look at Q2 statistics. The Q1 rate was 1.2%.

The increase in GDP comes as the US economy faces contentious federal budget talks in September between Congress and President Barack Obama, as well as the possibility of the Federal Reserve beginning to scale back the monthly bond purchases it has been making to help stimulate the economy.